WORLD BUSINESS BRIEFING: ASIA; INSURANCE OVERHAUL IN INDIA

A bill to end India's state monopoly in the insurance business and to allow competition from private companies -- both foreign and domestic -- was approved by the upper house of Parliament and will become law as soon as the president signs it. The Hindu nationalist-led government did not have a majority in the upper house, but the opposition Congress Party joined it to support the measure. Under the change, foreign companies can own up to 26 percent of a domestic insurance business. Celia W. Dugger